OCA is definitely one of the most unique restaurants I’ve dined at recently and absolutely worth trying!

After garnering popularity in Brazil, these crepes that use a starch extracted from the cassava (or more commonly known as yuca) root, have hit the Big Apple! And boy, are we lucky!

This yuca starch is a healthier alternative to bread. It doesn’t contain any gluten, dairy, fat, sugar, cholesterol, GMOs or preservatives. The best thing about OCA’s menu is that you can come for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert! They have egg crêpes for the morning (or really any time) as well as savory and sweet crepês.

I first started off with their Acai bowl. You can add strawberries, bananas, cashews and/or hazelnuts. I got all the above minus the cashews:

​Tip: these are on the small side so I wouldn’t recommend ordering only this if you’re hungry!

Next, I had to try one of the breakfast egg options, called “Egg ‘N’ OCA’s”. I had the #2 which was topped with prosciutto, mozzarella, and basil. It’s sort of like a thin pizza but made with egg and the tapioca starch. Let’s just say I had a difficult time sharing this:

I also tried two of their more savory OCA’s: OCA #5 which had prosciutto, mozzarella, basil and walnuts as well as the OCA #7 with chicken, aged cheddar, sweet corn, thyme and pesto.

I strongly preferred the #5 with the prosciutto over the chicken which I felt lacked in flavor and salt, which was surprising since pesto is fairly salty from the olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt. But the #5 was delicious and I quickly wished we had ordered two so I could have my own!

The texture of the tapioca crêpe is really unique. It doesn’t have much of a flavor, which is why the ingredients inside shine, but it does give it this unfamiliar yet pleasing dry, crunchy texture. You have to try it to understand it!

​Oh, and you can make your own crêpe using their “build your own” section of the menu with about 30 items to choose from to customize your dream crêpe.